Mission to Abisko: Stories and Myths in the Creation of Scientific + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Mission to Abisko: Stories and Myths in the Creation of Scientific "Truth" Book

Abisko is a minute village and scientific research station in far northern Sweden. In 1997 John L. Casti organized a meeting of historians, science writers, and writers of "hard" science fiction, under the midnight sun, to discuss the ways, means, and ends of scientific storytelling. Each of the 12 participants wrote a chapter in this book. The quote marks around Truth in the title are nearly misleading. The writers mostly agree that there is such a thing as truth, even Truth, and that science tries to find it. But they also agree that science is not culture-free any more than modern culture can be made science-free. For the science fiction writers, in particular, this is a source of vibrant wit and insight. Gregory Benford's personal take on cloning, for instance: "Speaking as a twin, clones seem a lesser form." The issue of cloning and the broader question of what is a human being run through the book, from Benford to Jack Cohen's image of the Make-a-Human-Being Kit to Paul McAuley's comparison of horror and science fiction's response to genetic manipulation. The feedback loops within and between chapters make Mission to Abisko the standard that all conference proceedings should hope to achieve: a partial record of a meeting of minds. --Mary Ellen Curtin Read More

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  • Product Description

    How the stories scientists tell shape what we know about science and the world.

    "The village of Abisko in May when it never gets dark is a truly exotic location for a brain-storming workshop, and the result is this `out of this world' collection of essays on science as storytelling."-Greg Chaitin, author of The Limits of Mathematics

    We all know well that the science the general public learns is based upon what scientists and journalists tell us in newspapers, magazines, books, and television. But what is not so apparent is that the science that scientists themselves learn, even the paradigms they create, is also based on the stories they tell each other. Twelve top scientists who gathered in Abisko, north of the Arctic Circle, examine the phenomenon of science as storytelling in this fascinating and delightful book.

  • 0738201677
  • 9780738201672
  • John L. Casti, Anders Karlqvist
  • 17 September 1999
  • Perseus Books
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 208
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